Taking off and landing have never been more interesting than at these five airports. The runways constructed include some of the most bizarre architectural designs. With an estimated 50,000 airports worldwide, it is no surprise that sooner or later a few of them would try to stand out from the pack. Here are five of our favorite strange airport runways.

Madeira Airport (Funchal, Portugal‎): Known to regular visitors as “Funchal Airport”, this Portugal runway is definitely a sight to see from your window seat. After an incident in 1977 involving a TAP Portugal plane, the extremely short and dangerous to navigate landing strip was extended. In 2000 the airport decided to actually place the new runway on 180 columns…at about 190 feet in the air! Madeira’s airstrip even won the “Outstanding Structures Award”, which is considered by many to be the “Oscars” of engineering worldwide.

Gibraltar Airport (Gibraltar): This single airstrip is one of few in the world (and definitely the largest) to cross a public road. Yes it crosses actual city traffic! Just like when you must stop for a train crossing, the residents of Gibraltar must hit their brakes and wait while a giant airplane rolls by them en route to the airport. This hub also holds the distinction of being the closest airport to the city it serves, being less than 1,700 feet away from the city center.

Princess Juliana International Airport (St. Maarten): Before even reaching the runway, pilots departing and arriving at this popular tropical locale must avoid such aviation obstacles as crystal blue waters, mountains, and crazy pedestrians waving and cheering from Maho beach. The planes must come in so low to land properly on the short St. Maarten landing strip that many people believed pictures posted of it online were fake. But it is all too real and fortunately there have been no runway incidents in the history of the airport’s existence.

Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport (Atlanta, Georgia): It is no surprise that the world’s busiest airport would also be home to the world’s largest runway. Bridging an incredible 10 lanes of traffic on I-285, this enormous and unique landing strip is definitely an architectural marvel. Costing nearly $1.28 billion (yes billion), Hartsfield–Jackson’s fifth runway opened in May 2006 to positive reviews from the airline industry.

Pictures courtesy of Flickr members silvan de munck, billruhsam, jmmanikko, and toddneville.